Colors
by sunnie.side.down
Summary: If the world worked the way Naruto wanted, orange would be a primary color. SNS. Spanish translation by MoneerehNut now available. Russian translation also available.
1. Black: The Color of Despair

**A/N:** Spanish translation by MoneerehNut now available! There's also a Russian translation by Sayumi Sato (Селина Дарк) that can be found on ficbook (/ readfic/8696682/22210033)

* * *

Sasuke stared indifferently at the couple sitting across from him on the metro. He was not, in any way, creeping on the couple. He was simply observing. People watching. He observed as the girl fell asleep and her head slowly fell onto the boy's shoulder. He saw the boy startle and then relax when he saw her fast asleep. Sasuke then watched as the jostling of the train also lulled the boy into a slumber and his head fell on top of the girls. It was disgusting really, how comfortable they were together. Sasuke felt like he was going to get a cavity watching and went back to his book.

Or at least he tried.

In the space to the right of the sleeping couple two friends leaned over a phone. They tapped and swiped and pointed and laughed. Clearly playing a game of some sort. To the left of the couple a man stared blankly at his phone, but when Sasuke took in the slight crinkle in the corner of the man's eyes and the way they lite up, he knew that there's something on the phone that made him happy. Maybe it was a text from his daughter or maybe it was a funny joke on some social media site or maybe he's reading porn. It could have been anything. A couple seats down from where Sasuke was sitting, a woman was attempting to multitask. In her arms she rocked a baby to sleep while simultaneously trying to keep a toddler entertained. Her hair fell in a mess as she picked up a dropped stuffed giraffe to give back to the toddler.

The girl startled awake and caught Sasuke's (in)attention once again. Sasuke saw the slight widening of eyes as she checked the station they were arriving at. She shook the boy and pulled him up to the door holding hands. They got off at the next stop.

Sasuke stood up and got off at his stop after theirs.

Maybe there was something in the air or maybe it was the couple that sat across from him on the metro, but something triggered and Sasuke was in a Weird Mood TM. It made him more aware of everything around him. Almost as if the world before was in 240p and now it was in 1080p HD. He could feel himself in the space around him. Feel as the warm evening air entered his body and filled his lungs, how his blood cells would gather the oxygen molecules to circulate through his body, how he would exhale the carbon dioxide into the air in an invisible puff of heat. He could feel every hair on his body rise as a cool breeze whisked his warmth away.

Okay he might have exaggerated a little.

Anyway, every noise, the sound of his steps, the rush of passing cars, the rumble of the leaving train, rang clear in Sasuke's ears. He was aware of himself and everyone around him. How everyone was their own person with their own desires and stories. How everyone was the protagonist to their own life. How Sausuke was just another passerby, not even registered in their concious mind.

Sasuke's mind wandered. He remembered hearing somewhere that crowds were a fluid. Maybe they could be compared to other states of matter too. The crowd could be a solid as the people crammed together to get off the train. From there the pressure would turn the crowd into a liquid as people moved around others and obstacles, walking without faltering, without even thinking too much about it. As the people split to go their separate ways to cars and stores, to homes and jobs, the crowd would be evaporating and turning into a gas.

Sasuke reached his apartment. With a sigh he pulled out his keys. He was tired. He wanted nothing more than a warm meal and a hot shower and blessed, blessed sleep. But sleep never really helped with the Weird Mood TM. Sasuke always tried to focus his attention outward. Focusing inward was dangerous. Focusing inward was for when he was alone at night with nothing but his mind inside his body. The quiet and dark amplified a fact that Sasuke never liked to acknowledge.

Saskue took a deep breath and let it go as he entered his aparment.

Sasuke was...

Food. Eat. He forced himself to think pleasent thoughts. He had some cherry tomatoes in his fridge still. He should eat those. Itachi was going to come over the next day, he should clean a little. Well maybe not. It was just Itachi. Okay maybe he should.

He pulled out a single plate and a single fork and a single cup and set them on the counter in his cold, empty aparment. The thought bubbled up inside him with the undeniable evidence set in front of him. It settled in the middle of his being, the space between the bottom of his ribs and the top of his stomach. It was almost like a hunger pain except instead of a cramping stomach, it was a cramping metaphorical heart.

Sasuke was lonely.

His phone buzzed. He checked the caller ID and ignored it. He was too invested in his brooding to be social at the moment. He retrieved a container of leftovers from his fridge and dumped it on his plate. His phone buzzed again as he put his plate in the microwave.

Sasuke sighed, "Yes Sakura?"

"Why'd you ignore me?" Came her voice over speaker phone.

"I did not ignore you," Sasuke lied.

"Uh-huh," Sakura didn't believe him for a second. "Whatever, that's not important. You free this Saturday? I'm throwing a surprise party for Ino."

Sasuke thought of his absolutely free weekend that he planned to do absolutely nothing and replied, "No. I'm busy."

Sasuke could feel Sakura's eyeroll over the phone. "Your sixth grade class picture says you're free."

A spike of panic raced through Sasuke as repressed memories of middle school picture day surfaced. Then he remembered that he had taken care of-

"Before the retakes," Sakura's pleasent voice was an auditory hallucination. Behind the angelic voice was the devil out for death and carnage.

Sasuke briefly wondered where she got the photos, but really it was probably from Itachi. For some reason they were friends. Sasuke sighed again. "Where and what time?"

The timer for his food beeped.

* * *

 **A/N:** Crossposting from AO3. Or more like this is completely finished on AO3 and I forgot FF existed. I'll be updating this over the next couple of days.


	2. Red: The Blood of Angry Men

Ino was popular. When Sakura said she was going to invite everyone to the party, she wasn't kidding. Naruto had no idea how she kept it a secret from her for so long since Ino was the self proclaimed (and proven) queen of all things involving gossip.

Sakura had rented out a hall in one of the fancier hotels in town. It was probably expensive as hell, but really, Naruto knew that Sakura has done more extreme things for Ino.

It all vaguely reminded Naruto of a mixture of a club and his high school dances. Tables lined the perimeter so that people could dance in the middle. One was set up for presents and another for food and beverages.

Naruto spotted a head of long blonde hair and made his way over. Ino was chatting with Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't look like he was even bothering to listen. "Hey Ino! Happy Birthday!"

"Ah Naruto! Thank you for coming," Ino replied and gave Naruto a hug. Over her shoulder, Naruto saw Shikamaru make a quick escape to the beverage table. Naruto shrugged internally and took his place in listening to Ino chatter away.

"And then when Sai decided that he needed to…" Ino suddenly trailed off. Her eyes widened as she looked at something over Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto turned to follow her stare as he heard Sakura gasp from somewhere by the middle of the room, "Who gave Lee alcohol?!"

Behind Naruto Lee was in the middle of the dance floor. A circle had formed around him as he sparred with an invisible opponent. It was pretty tame compared to what Naruto knew Lee was capable of while intoxicated, but by the looks of it, the alcohol had just hit his system so it was probably only the beginning of something catastrophic if not handled immediately.

Naruto scanned the room for Neji or Ten Ten, the two people best at handling drunk Lee. When they were not spotted he decided he was next best option. "I'll get Lee. Find Neji or Ten Ten," he said to Ino before heading to the dance circle.

Naruto pushed his way through the crowd to the middle to face Lee. Lee wobbled to a stop, one hand up in a ready position.

"Most precioussss fwend! 'Ave you come to 'par with me!" Lee listed dangerously to the side before righting himself. Naruto didn't know how he did it.

"No Lee. I think you should come with me and get some water. Maybe find Neji? He'll want to spar with you." Naruto slowly approached Lee, like he was approaching a skittish animal. Well, a skittish animal that has broken Naruto's nose twice. When Naruto went to put a steadying arm around Lee, Lee grabbed his arm and pulled. Naruto had enough experience to know to duck as Lee's open palm came to strike where his face once was. No broken nose this time.

From the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Neji pushing through the crowd. "Neji! Operation Green-9-7!"

Neji nodded pulled a coat from somewhere and Naruto hugged Lee around the waist to push him back. Neji held to coat open and once Lee was in range he quickly tied the sleeves, effectively restraining Lee's arms. "Legs!" Neji shouted and Naruto carried Lee's legs while Neji carried his torso to the side of the room. ("Neji! My rivaaal! 'Par with me!" Lee was ignored.) The crowd parted and clapped politely.

Naruto marveled. That was the smoothest Operation Green-9-7 has ever gone. The last time he and Neji tried it, Lee broke free immediately and somehow ended up cutting down a tree. With nothing but his hands. Either he and Neji were getting better at this or Lee was losing his edge. Naruto hoped it was both.

They reached the side of the room and Naruto just knew he spoke too soon. One of Lee's legs squirmed free and kicked Naruto in the chest. Naruto fell back a few steps before bumping into someone and crashing to the floor. He was quick to his feet to offer a hand up. Ten Ten popped up and helped Neji control Lee.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Hn," was the only reply and the offered hand was ignored as a man with dark hair stood and dusted his clothes off. He was about Naruto's height, maybe a centimeter or so taller.

"Here. Let me get you something to drink." Naruto might have been panicking a little. He felt bad for knocking someone he didn't know over and wanted to do something nice for them.

"I don't need it," the man said before turning and muttering. "I shouldn't have even come to this stupid party."

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Sakura worked really hard on this party. You shouldn't insult it like that."

"I can insult it if I want to."

"Then why did you even bother coming if you're going to be such a prick about it?"

The man paused and then shrugged, "Whatever. I've been here long enough. I'm leaving."

There were three things in Naruto's life that would instantly make him see red. First, when someone replaces the toilet paper under instead of over. Next, when people turn over more than one lane of traffic. Admittedly, the first two were petty and he got over them in a matter of seconds, but this last one and also most recent addition was in a category of its own. The last one was the man in front of him. Naruto was under the impression that if he were to conduct a survey on what people thought of this dark haired man, nine out of ten people would say that a) he was hot, and b) he was a complete and total asshole.

He might have been a little irrational, but he was already on edge from dealing with Lee. His body moved and his fist connected with the bastard's face.

* * *

Sasuke was not having a good day. It was bad even before some blond moron decided to deck him. Sasuke would say that if his life quality when he woke up that morning was at one hundred percent that day, even though it was probably closer to eighty-five or ninety percent, it was definitely at an all time low now. The first chip probably happened at breakfast when he found out his shredded cheese was moldy _after_ he dumped it on his eggs. It went down at least ten percent after he discovered the concert tickets he planned on purchasing were sold out almost immediately after going on sale. Every time Sakura texted him to remind him of the party that evening, which was every hour on the hour since nine in the morning, the percent went down by two to the power of the number of text messages.

Now he was at Ino's birthday party against his will with a life quality in the teen's and it was one hundred percent Itachi's fault. When he asked him about the middle school photos, he pretended he didn't know what Sasuke was talking about, but Sasuke knew better. He saw the slight crinkle at the corner of Itachi's eyes. It was not the crinkle of happiness or laughter. It was the crinkle of mischief. One that Sasuke has received time and again. Itachi is dead to him. Dead.

Already irritated, Sasuke just wanted to greet Ino, show himself to Sakura so she had proof he was there, and then get the hell out of there. But of course life was not that simple. It never was. There were so many people. He would expect this many people at a wedding reception or maybe a concert for an underappreciated indie band with a cult following, not Ino's twenty-second birthday party. The point was, he couldn't find Ino or Sakura.

Who he did find was Neji by the beverage table. Upon seeing him, Neji gave a small nod which he returned. It was all that was needed between them. Sasuke grabbed a drink and leaned against the table next to Neji to join him in staring at the crowd. Moments later another dark haired man joined them. It was almost peaceful, if Sasuke could tune out the loud overplayed pop music and forget the fact that he really didn't want to be there.

There was a commotion. Neji took one look at the dance floor before he rushed off swearing quietly under his breath. Sasuke's other silent companion sighed and wondered toward the dance floor too. Sasuke was perfectly content waiting by the beverage table.

When Neji returned carrying a man clad in green….spandex, Sasuke was two seconds from calling it good enough and leaving. Screw the party, screw Ino, screw Sakura, screw Itachi.

Sasuke turned to leave. And then Sasuke was on the ground. He stood up and the blond that ran into him was saying something. He replied automatically but was too distracted by the overwhelming want to just go home. It was official, Sasuke's life quality was at zero percent. So when his face snapped to the right and he staggered back and fell to the ground _again_ , Sasuke did what anyone would do with the growing stress and disappointments of the day. He launched himself off the ground to tackle the blond menace around the waist.

Now Sasuke has never actually been in a real fight before, but he has heard that they were good for stress relief. After landing a solid hit on the blond's jaw, he would have to agree.

"NARUTO!" That was Sakura's voice. The man above him froze. Good. Sasuke landed another punch. He was winding back for another one when he froze too. "SASUKE!" A shadow loomed over them. Sasuke turned and a halo of light shadowed the fierce expression that twisted Sakura's face. Sasuke and the man were apart instantly.

If the day could possibly get worse, the look on Sakura's face was a promise.

* * *

Naruto was currently sitting at Sakura's kitchen table across from The Bastard. That's right. Capitalized. On a good note, he didn't look too pleased either. No one at the table did. Naruto noticed the frown gracing Sakura's small pink lips. The deep breaths she took through her nose told Naruto to brace himself for an explosion. He'd seen her do that type of breathing twice before in his life. Once it was directed at him and once at poor, poor Sai. He repressed an involuntary shudder. A phantom ache pulsed in his gut at the memories. The room was so quiet that he swore he heard the moment the last of her calm snapped as she whirled on The Bastard.

"You," Sakura jabbed a finger into Sasuke's chest. "You owe me. Remember the incident with the jelly?" Sasuke paled and a snicker escaped from Naruto's lips. Sakura heard and whirled around to him. "And you! Don't even get me started. Remember Grandma Haruno?"

"It was an accident! I swear!" Naruto said as he began to scoot back in his chair. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sasuke smirking.

Sakura followed Naruto's retreat. "You were playing catch with her vase. Catch. With. Her. Vase." With each word she stabbed her finger into Naruto's chest. It hurt.

"I already said I was sorry!"

Sakura ignored Naruto. "Now you two," Sakura glared, "will be making up. You need to be able to be in each other's company with out killing each other because we have a lot of common friends. I'm actually surprised you've never met until today."

"Thank god," Sasuke muttered.

"So," Sakura ignored Sasuke, "because I am so kind and great, I have two tickets to the fair next weekend that I will so graciously give to you two for I have an appointment at the spa with Ino." Sakura slammed her hand on the table causing Naruto and Sasuke to flinch. When she pulled her hand away, two tickets were in its place.

"You two will go to the fair and you two will have fun together. You will take pictures of proof of your ability to get along. I expect no less than ten pictures taken at different attractions at different points of the day. There will be no complaining. Capeesh?"

Naruto got as far as opening his mouth before Sakura turned her head towards him. "Capeesh?"

Naruto silently nodded. Sasuke silently said goodbye to another peaceful weekend.


	3. Taste Like Orange

If the world worked the way Naruto wanted, then orange would be a primary color. But it doesn't. Just like red, yellow and blue are the primary colors, Naruto was sitting in his car in front of what he assumes to be Sasuke's apartment. He was early by two minutes. At exactly nine, Sasuke walked out and got into the car.

Naruto tried - he really did - to have a nice conversation with Sasuke. It would be a shame to waste a day at the fair and not have fun. "Good morning! How was your week?" He started. See. Nice.

Sasuke stared at him. His expression was blank. It was kind of creepy really. Naruto squirmed and just started the car. Yeah no. Wasn't happening.

Sasuke turned to stare out the window and Naruto was just glad he had the road to concentrate on. The drive to the fair was thirty minutes spent in awkward, tense silence. Thirty whole minutes. It nearly drove Naruto mad.

* * *

"So. Pictures right?" Naruto said out loud when they finally made it into the fair grounds. Sasuke looked over and nodded, just as much resigned to their fate as he was. "Might as well start now," Naruto continued, taking notice of the fair sign. He flagged down a group of girls to take the photo. Naruto and Sasuke stood awkwardly by each other.

"Oh come on, you guys act like you hate each other! Scrunch together more!" the girl waved with her hand. Naruto grumbled but obliged and moved a little closer to Sasuke. He could feel him tense right next to him. "Much better! Now on three! One, two, three! Smile!"

"Thank you!" Naruto said as he took the camera back and checked the photo. He was smiling though it looked more like a baring of teeth than something that was supposed to reflect happiness. Sasuke didn't even bother.

"Hm, what was that?" Naruto turned to Sasuke. If he hadn't heard his voice before, he would have thought he was mute.

Sasuke let out a sigh like the world's only purpose was to make his life miserable. "One down. Nine to go."

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with. What should we do first?"

Sasuke looked down into an activity map. Naruto had no idea where it came from. Not that he would actually use it. He was more of a wander around and see kind of guy.

"Let's do this." Sasuke pointed on the map. Naruto leaned over and paled.

"A haunted house huh? Aren't we too old for something as stupid as a haunted house?"

Naruto felt Sasuke's gaze slide over to him. His black eyes seemed to bore into Naruto's very soul. There was no emotion. His endless eyes saw everything. It was like he was an otherworldly being judging Naruto. Sasuke was a demon with an angelic face. The haunted house was an excuse so he could rejoin with his brethren. He was going to trap Naruto and sacrifice him to his gods.

"What are you scared?" he smirked.

There was no way he was scared. He was terrified but he was not telling demon Sasuke that. "Of course not. Let's go. Right now." Naruto began to walk only to be pulled back.

"It's this way moron."

The line for the haunted house was unfortunately short enough to justify waiting. Naruto didn't know if he should be grateful or not. On one hand he didn't have the long line to agonize on his upcoming human sacrifice, on the other, he had to go through it sooner. He was too young to die. He still had things to do. Like eat a bowl of ramen on all seven continents. Sasuke was not helping as he just waited in silence. Maybe if Naruto puked he could get out of it. Naruto wished he could puke on command. Maybe he could just go through the house with his eyes closed. Which was a terrible idea. So many things could go wrong. Naruto was doomed.

Too soon they were walking into the death house. Sasuke in front, but only because Naruto was being polite.

"Would you stop clinging to my shirt?" Sasuke snapped. Naruto just about jumped out of his skin and nervously let go for all of two nanoseconds before his hands were clamped again to the back of Sasuke's shirt. "I-I'm not clinging. I just don't want to lose you in the crowd bastard."

Sasuke rolled his eyes not that Naruto could see it since they were in the dark, but he got the impression that he did.

When they finally exited, Naruto squinted as the bright sun flashed in his eyes. If someone asked what he remembered from the house, he would not be able to answer. At some point his body's self-preservation mechanisms kicked in and placed his body on auto pilot. The memories from the last fifteen minutes were systematically repressed and stored in to the deepest reaches of his consciousness. Naruto only knew that he might have been wrong in assuming Sasuke was a demon out for his blood.

"We're buying this."

"Huh?" Naruto looked at where Sasuke was looking. Naruto's face burned. He jumped to conclusions too fast. Sasuke was out for Naruto's life. At some point in the house, they took pictures. Naruto was practically on top of Sasuke and his face was twisted in horror. Naruto already knew this but he did not want the world to know it too. Naruto was an ugly crier.

"Can't we get pictures from other things?" Naruto tried.

"We're buying this," Sasuke repeated. He was already pulling out his wallet.

"But Sakura said pictures of us having fun!"

"I was having fun."

"Your face doesn't even have a reaction on it!"

"Too late. I already bought it. And that's another photo down," Sasuke said as the man behind the counter gave Sasuke a bag.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's get something to eat. I'm starving." Naruto didn't wait for Sasuke and walked in the direction where he smelled food.

* * *

The fair was set up so that food was available in every section for a day of ongoing snacking, but there was also a central area set aside just for food carts with a large cluster of tables. That's where Naruto headed. It was a little overwhelming. Despite the early hour, it was still packed. Spices permeated the air. Walking through the area tested one's tolerance of grease and sweat. Signs advertised fried what-nots and chocolate dipped fruits side by side.

Now Naruto was typically a healthy eater. He got at least three servings of fruits and vegetables a day, he cut back on eating ramen to only one meal a day, and he didn't really have an uncontrollable sweet tooth. But this, this was a special occasion, he thought as he eyed the stand offering fried butter on a stick. It was a day full of once in a life time culinary opportunities as well as time-loved traditions. Where else could he get a funnel cake topped with fried Oreos? He needed a turkey leg even if he never finished them. He had never before seen in his life fried Spam curds on a stick and he needed to try it. He was in the prime of his life. Eating unhealthily for a day would only cause him mild heart burn if that, and little to no repercussions in the future.

He and Sasuke decided to split up to grab food. Sasuke was already sitting at the table eating a boring salad as Naruto walked over with his findings. Even though there was a huge variety of stands, Naruto couldn't remember one selling salad.

Sasuke looked up as Naruto sat. His face curled in disgust as he took in the food Naruto set before himself.

"That's disgusting," Sasuke said with distain as he eyed a drop of oil as it slid from the fried…something - Naruto already forgot what it was since he had multiple fired somethings - on a stick onto the napkin Naruto was holding.

"Hey!" Naruto replied around a mouthful of chocolate marshmallow death. It was the fried s'more. "Don't knock it until you try it!" He looked down at his fried s'more and offered a piece of heart attack for Sasuke to try.

Sasuke glanced at the offered food and then back up to Naruto's face. "No."

"Come ooon! You gotta try it! When's the next time you'll get the opportunity to eat a fried s'more on a stick?"

"Why would I even want to eat that?"

"It's culture!"

"No it most definitely is not."

"It's a classic bonfire treat with a twist!"

"Don't care."

"Please?"

Silence passed between them. Naruto put on his best customer service smile. He knows it's effective since he was voted "Friendliest Employee" at the retail job he worked when he was in high school. Three times in a row.

"Fine!" Sasuke said as he snatched the stick from Naruto's hand. "If it'll get you to shut up." He took a fierce bite of the s'more and chewed.

"Here! Try this one too!" Naruto said as Sasuke swallowed.

The only response he got was a slight twitch of Sasuke's right eye and the next snack pulled from his hands. Naruto's smile widened.

* * *

After their first lunch and an argument that Naruto won, they made their way over to the livestock area. Since there were so many barns, and because apparently animals weren't as interesting to others as they were to Naruto, the area was practically deserted. Naruto and Sasuke wandered around between barns. They saw cows and pigs, sheep and goats. There was a pen with alpacas and one with llamas. The alpacas were cute with their huge eyes and fluffy fluff fluff. The owner was around and let Naruto pet one. The llamas though had signs about biting and spitting. Naruto gave that cage a wide berth, Sasuke stopped and pulled his phone out to snap a picture. He had a suspicion that if Sasuke was an animal he would be a llama with the attitude he had.

Another area housed cages for smaller animals. Naruto snickered at the giant chicken in the cage. Its feathers were the same shade as Sasuke's hair. He never noticed before but Sasuke's hair really resembled a chicken's butt. Naruto snickered again and pulled out his phone. "Sasuke, Sasuke! Stand next to the chicken!"

"Why?" he asked but did so anyway. They needed the pictures.

"The chicken has your hair." If looks could kill, well Naruto would have probably died when he was three and broke his mother's favorite vase, but the look Sasuke was giving him would have resurrected him and slaughtered him in the most painful way imaginable. Possibly death by haunted house.

"Oh do you want to hold Sally?" came a voice out of nowhere. Naruto turned to face the smiling owner of Sally.

Naruto saw Sasuke's mouth open to decline but beat him to it. "We'd love to."

The owner quickly opened the cage and pulled Sally out and handed her to Sasuke. Sasuke had no choice but to accept. "Now make sure to support her feet so she feels stable."

Naruto grinned as he watched Sasuke struggle. Discreetly he pulled up his phone. "Did you just take a picture of me." Sasuke's voice was not a question and was infused with the promise of pain and misery.

Naruto suppressed his grin and pulled his most serious face. "Of course not Sasuke."

His eyes narrowed, "Hn. Somehow I find that hard to believe." Sasuke began to advance on Naruto and he backed up.

"Please refrain from moving, you'll scare her." The owner warned uselessly. It was too late. The chicken was spooked. Sally could feel the murder rolling off of Sasuke. In an act of the flight instinct, the chicken took to the air out of Sasuke's arms. Her wings smacking Sasuke's face. A displeased grunt came from Sasuke's lips. The owner was quick to catch the chicken. Naruto just grinned manically. He told the truth when he said he did not take a picture. It was all on video. Revenge was sweet.

* * *

They walked around and looked at the different attractions and displays. At one point they stopped to get a second lunch. More fried things on sticks for Naruto and some weird fruit bowl for Sasuke. A stand offering free refills on milk prompted a milk chugging contest that Naruto totally won because his cups were way fuller than Sasuke's. Eventually the buildings filled with hand knit clothing and children's art work morphed into colorful rides and games.

"Let's go on that," Naruto pointed to some twisting machines.

"No," came Sasuke's automatic reply.

"Aw how come for why?"

"How come for-?" Sasuke started but stopped and rolled his eyes. He was doing a lot of that today. "It needs tickets. We don't have tickets."

"Which is an easily solvable issue. I'll go buy some now." Naruto was already walking to the ticket booth.

"It's a waste of money." Sasuke tried as he followed.

"Come on live a little! When's the last time you've been on something like this?"

"It's for children!"

"What are you scared?" Naruto taunted.

"No. Go buy the damn tickets."

Luckily the line was short for the tickets and the ride. The entire time Sasuke frowned and didn't answer to Naruto's inane chatter. Soon they were strapped into their cart and the ride began to move.

Of all the fair rides, the tilt-a-whirl was Naruto's favorite. He loved to feel the force as the cart reached the top of the cycle and slammed the riders mercilessly into the cart walls and other passengers.

Anticipation bubbled up in Naruto's chest as he felt the minute shifts in the cart that was the pen ultimate move until the cart whirled around. When it finally happened, Naruto slid down his seat, boneless, letting physics do its thing, and slammed straight into Sasuke. Naruto expected to keep on sliding with Sasuke into the wall but slamming into Sasuke felt vaguely like slamming into a wall. He stopped completely, unable to move past the border between his side of the cart and Sasuke's. The cart settled. Naruto sat up straighter and looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke sat forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands in front of his mouth. Every muscle in his body was tense as he tried his hardest not to move with the force of the whirling cart.

"Are you seriously trying not to move on a tilt-a-whirl? Where's the fun in that?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"Hn." Was all he got as the cart whirled again and Naruto slammed into Sasuke once more, this time a little less willingly because he was caught off guard. Sasuke still didn't budge. Naruto knew a challenge when he saw one.

Naruto slammed into Sasuke three more times before Sasuke's muscles finally gave out and they both slid into the cart wall. Naruto felt like his bottom jaw would fall off with the amount he was grinning.

The ride ended soon after. Naruto began to walk away towards the shooting duck game, but a tug on his shirt stopped him. Sasuke was glaring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Again," Sasuke replied. He let go of Naruto's shirt and walked back to the line for the tilt-a-whirl.

Naruto followed laughing. They rode it until they ran out of ride tickets and every time Sasuke ended up slammed into a cart wall.

* * *

"It's hot, let's go take a break over there," Naruto said and all but dragged Sasuke to the giant patch of shade. Either Sasuke felt the heat too, or he was finally warming up to Naruto despite the day nearly being over for he followed without complaint. The area was a little crowded but it was the largest patch of shade in the nearby area.

Naruto looked around slightly confused by all the children in swimsuits hopping around excitedly. It reminded him of those fancy parks with the water spouts in the ground, but there weren't any at the fair. Naruto opened his mouth to ask Sasuke his opinion when a loud bell cut him off. The chatter around them grew in volume and emotion. The crowd began to squeeze together tighter. Naruto noticed their gazes turning towards the sky. He glanced at Sasuke and they both followed their gazes up. Naruto froze. A large bucket of water, and he meant large, bigger than a bathtub, bigger than a hot tub, was slowly tipping over. He looked at Sasuke again. He was frozen too staring as the water fell.

It happened in slow motion. Naruto looked at the crowd. It was too packed together, their escape routes were cut off. They were trapped. The water came closer and it finally crashed down upon the them. The children shrieked in delight. Naruto and Sasuke… well Naruto was sure that he was going to die in the next minute via blood sacrifice and began silently say goodbye to his loved ones.

And then something happened. His ears twitched, trying to see if he was hearing things or not. He looked over, Sasuke was shaking with a hand clamped over his mouth. He thought he was going to puke but a small snort changed his mind. "You're laughing!" Naruto exclaimed. And that seemed to be the final straw for Sasuke dropped his hand and his voice came out, joining in with the laughter of the children around them. His laugh loud and possibly a little hysterical. Deep, soul deep, laughs filled the evening air. It brought a smile and laughter from Naruto's own lips. Maybe the day wasn't wasted and maybe Sasuke wasn't so bad.


	4. And It Was Called Yellow

There was a soft thump on the door. "It's open!" Naruto called. He didn't want to stand and risk knocking down his card house.

The door unlatched. Akamaru woke from his nap and looked to the door. Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming. The door opened and Gaara walked in. Akamaru immediately started barking.

"Gaara stop harassing Akamaru," Naruto said, tossing a look towards the door. Gaara stood in the entrance with his arms crossed gazing at Akamaru who had scrambled to the door and stopped a deemed safe distance away from him to continue yipping.

Gaara glanced at Naruto. "I am doing no such thing," he said before returning his eyes down.

This happened every time Gaara came over and it didn't help if Kiba was home to act as a buffer between the two. In fact, Kiba made it worse. Kiba didn't exactly glare at Gaara but there was more staring -and in one incident, growling- than what was typically polite among acquaintances. Kiba and Akamaru would feed on each other's bad vibes until either Gaara (least likely) or Kiba (most likely) would leave the area.

Naruto thought it was all ridiculous. So maybe Gaara and Kiba got off on the wrong foot the first time they met. Gaara already apologized once for the sand and twice for the blood. Kiba was being dramatic and Akamaru had a bad habit of holding grudges.

Gaara finally looked away and sat on Naruto's couch. Akamaru barked one more time before running off to Kiba's room. "You seem like you're in a good mood," Gaara stated.

Naruto shrugged as he added another card to his house. "I guess I have been. I went to the fair last weekend and it was pretty fun."

Gaara raised a hairless eyebrow. Naruto smiled inwardly at how Gaara shaved them off when he was younger because he didn't know any better but continued to do it because he was too embarrassed to admit he did it by mistake. "Weren't you dreading it? I distinctly remember you calling me about some 'Sasuke bastard' you had to babysit for a day."

"Hm? Oh yeah," Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head. "He's actually not that bad once you get past the five hundred layers of jerkass. Besides, I have so many blackmail photos of him now." Naruto pulled out his phone. "I mean look at him with this chicken! They match!"

* * *

Sasuke filled his kettle for what felt like the hundredth time that week. He was a tea drinker, but typically it was a cup every couple of days, maybe two if he was stressed. Sasuke took in the mugs littering his counter, his coffee table, his desk. The vague thought that maybe this was getting out of hand formed and dissipated within moments without so much as any sort of acknowledgement. The tea was necessary. Sasuke was stressed.

Ever since the fair, his body has been out of sorts. His general physiology felt off, like he was missing something from his person that he has been carrying for a very long time. The world seemed clearer, colors brighter, his body lighter. Sasuke didn't like it. He blamed the food which he had to eat since he was at the fair all day. And he was at the fair in the first place because of Naruto. So all in all it was Naruto's fault that Sasuke was feeling off.

Sasuke scowled when his stomach flipped.

Tea. He needed tea.

The kettle whistled and Sasuke took it off the stove. He opened his mug cupboard and froze. He was out of clean mugs. His eyes slid to his cluttered counter. A couple had used tea bags in them. He really could just use a dirt- Sasuke moved mugs out of the way to climb on the counter. There had to be a clean mug somewhere. Sasuke was rewarded for his efforts. On the very top shelf hiding in the back corner was his last clean mug. He pulled it out and scowled again. There were no mysteries as to why the mug was in the very back of his cupboard. The obnoxious, bright yellow and the 'Thank you, have a nice day!' smiley face typically found on takeout bags of cheap restaurants almost gave him the motivation to clean his dishes. Almost.

He climbed down, dropped his last tea bag in the god forsaken mug, and filled it with water.

If Sasuke could create a new facial expression just to convey how annoyed he was, he would. Now he has to leave the comfort of his apartment to go to the store to replenish his stash of tea. Which shouldn't have to happen since he shouldn't have gone through his month supply in a week. Sasuke glared at the yellow mug. The color was offensive, too happy for his state of mind. The smiley face was mocking. It was probably a gift from Itachi and the only reason for it to still be in his possession and not re-gifted or tossed is because he had a reputation to uphold that did not include giving gifts of smiley mugs and Itachi would know if the mug came within a foot of the trashcan.

Sasuke glared at the mug like it would magically make it morph into a respectable dark blue, he would even settle for a minimalist white. But yellow! That was a color someone like Naruto would enjoy.

Sasuke's stomach flipped again. He grabbed his mug and took a large sip.

"Damn it!" Sasuke yelled as the tea seared his throat and esophagus. And because his reflexes decided that this was the best course of action, he dropped the mug. It shattered across the floor. Steam rose from the puddle of tea and broken ceramic. "Damn it!" Sasuke repeated for good measure.

Sasuke didn't even bother. He stepped over the mess, grabbed his keys, and left for the store.

* * *

Sasuke made a mistake. Somewhere in his rage induced storm to the store he listened to the little Itachi that resided in the back of his mind. The one that said that maybe a little fresh air would make him feel better. The problem here was that ninety-nine percent of the time, listening to the little Itachi ended up with Sasuke doing something foolish.

Hence here he was a mile in his two mile walk to the closest grocery that sold his tea. The whole distance part wasn't the issue though. The issue was that Sasuke had spent his entire day in the temperature controlled bliss of his apartment not realizing that outside was burning with the last heatwave until fall weather finally set in. Sasuke cursed his fondness of dark colors.

Needless to say, Sasuke's mood did not improve with the whole fresh air business. Turning around was not an option. His parents did not raise a quitter.

Forty agonizing minutes after leaving his apartment the cool blast of the grocery store's air conditioning hit him in the face. The vent was right inside the door and he was tempted to act as a kindhearted citizen that opened doors for people for no other reason than from the goodness of his heart if it would allow him to stand in the cold air for a few more minutes. Yeah, no. He would just make sure to walk by the frozen foods section before he left.

Sasuke was more tempted to buy a cup of tea from the attached café, but something hot was the absolute last thing he wanted and iced tea was an abomination. He grabbed a basket instead and almost on autopilot, walked to the aisle with his tea. His eyes zeroed in on the box.

"Yo Sasuke!" Sasuke turned to the speaker. One of Suigetsu's hands was up in greeting but slowly lowered when he saw Sasuke's face. He was holding a box of tampons, which wasn't unusual. Sasuke had gotten calls from Karin and sometimes Sakura too. "Uh, bad mood? What's eating you?" Suigetsu asked.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, grabbed his tea, and dropped it in his basket with more force than what was entirely necessary, but it did make him feel slightly better.

Suigetsu ignored the signs Sasuke was putting off that said 'Leave me the hell alone' and slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "Oh come on! You can tell me! I'm practically your best friend! 'Sides, I need a break from Karin. I think she's mad at me? Like why couldn't she call Jugo for her emergency run! I was on the completely opposite side of town. Jugo is right across the street!"

Sasuke wondered which would be worse, another forty-minute walk in the heat or being stuck in a car with Suigetsu for five minutes. "So you drove here?" Sasuke asked as casually as he could.

Suigetsu paused mid-rant. He looked at Sasuke and seemed to really see him, the sweat soaked bangs sticking to his forehead, the blotchy patches of red covering his face, the irritated scowl. Suigetsu's eyebrow slowly rose with each new detail. "Don't tell me you walked here?" Sasuke refused to reply. "In this weather?" Sasuke was thinking that maybe it wasn't that hot outside.

"Never mind."

"Nuh-uh. Too late. I'm giving you a ride." Suigetsu steered Sasuke towards the check out. "And you can tell me what's on your mind. It'll be like a mini therapy session."

Sasuke struggled out of Suigetsu's hold. Or he would have if the thought ever made it past formulation. They had passed by the doors and a blast of hot air overpowered the air conditioning. That was enough persuasion for Sasuke. Besides, he could always refuse to talk.


	5. Green Is Not A Creative Color

Itachi knocked on his office door. Sasuke didn't know why he bothered knocking when the next second he was striding into Sasuke's office. It definitely wasn't out of politeness, Sasuke knew. Sasuke put down the reports he was going over to give his full attention to his brother. Over his lifetime, Sasuke had learned that it was safer that way. Talking with Itachi while distracted equated to unknowingly agreeing to unpleasant things.

Itachi sat in the chair across from Sasuke's desk without prompting. Idly he picked up and fiddled with the spinning top trinket Sasuke had sitting on the edge of his desk.

Sasuke waited.

"It has been brought to my attention that you have been agitated lately. Are you alright, little brother?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He and Suigetsu the Traitor were _no longer friends_.

"I'm fine?" Sasuke did his best impression of Sakura when he told her that black wasn't actually his favorite color, that is mildly confused and a little irritated.

"You know, if there is ever anything that is bothering you, you can come to me. I will listen and I will help you get through whatever it is you are going through," Itachi said. His voice was calm but Sasuke knew better. Itachi was amused at Sasuke's expense. His words, though true, could not be trusted in this context since he was his older brother.

Itachi turned the top over in his hand a couple more times. With a flick of his wrist he tossed it onto his desk spinning. The constant drilling of the top became the only noise in the room. It was annoying, but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to stop it. They both watched as the top spun, as it began to slow and before it stopped Sasuke caved.

"I don't know what's wrong," Sasuke sighed. "I'm irritated all the time. My stomach hurts, I feel like puking, and my heart seems to be throbbing irregularly. I went to the doctor and they said everything was in order but obviously it's not. I looked it up online and I think I might have a terminal illness. Do you know if our family has history of heart disease?"

Itachi smiled and Sasuke immediately regretted temporarily losing control of his brain-to-mouth filter. "Hm, Sasuke. Those symptoms… Let me ask you this: did you have fun at the fair?"

"No," Sasuke said automatically and he was sticking with it. No amount of fair rides and cute animals would change that. He didn't bother wondering how Itachi knew about the fair in the first place. That reeked of Sakura and her endless gossip.

Itachi nodded his head like he believed Sasuke. "Okay. One more question. Was the person you went with attractive?"

Sasuke refused to answer, but his stomach did do a little flop. He suspected that the whole conversation was some type of revenge for the broken mug.

"I think I got it," Itachi began. "You have a crush."

Boom. There it was. The one word that Sasuke refused to think about, to give the discomfort a name. Crush. It was awful and untrue. Sasuke doesn't like people, let alone _Naruto._ Sasuke felt like puking again but for completely other reasons.

"No."

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"No." Sasuke got up from his desk and grabbed his coat and keys.

"No." He walked pass Itachi and out the door.

"Should I expect you back anytime soon?" Sasuke heard Itachi ask as he closed the door to his office.

* * *

Sasuke sat on a bench in a park a few blocks away from his office, drinking his favorite overpriced organic drink from a café across the street. He was definitely not thinking about the crush he does not have on that one person who shall not named due to the dangerous consequences on his psyche. A crush was impossible. He had met the guy twice. And they weren't good meetings. He wouldn't call him a friend. Or an acquaintance. He was just some loud, annoying, obnoxious, aggravating, irritating idiot who happened to look a little nice, especially when he smiled or laughed. And he did those a lot.

Sasuke was getting off topic. He wondered if these feelings were the consequence of interacting with new people but that wouldn't make any sense since it was part of his job. It was phase then. Just a phase. Give it a couple more months and he will forget he ever met Naruto and all with be well. Sasuke sighed, sat back on the bench, and sipped his drink.

And nearly spat it out when lo' and behold, Naruto was standing in front of him. Naruto was wearing running clothes and he was a little sweaty. His cheeks were flushed from exertion and his hair tousled by the light wind. Sasuke was going to go into cardiac arrest.

"Hey, bastard."

Sasuke stared. And stared some more before he finally replied. "Didn't think I'd have to suffer the displeasure of seeing your face again." Fuck. He didn't mean to say that. No, he did because they were not friends and he did not have a crush on him. Nope. No. Damn Itachi. He couldn't get that word out of his mind. It was making him self-conscious.

Naruto laughed and sat down in the grass next to the bench Sasuke was on. "So what've you been up to?" Naruto asked as he idly stretched his hamstrings.

Sasuke shrugged and tried to pretend he was talking with a business partner. "I work in an office a couple blocks down. I'm on break."

"Ooh, could it be that Uchiha building since you know, Uchiha?"

"Very observational. Do you want a prize?"

Naruto paused in his stretching. "Actually. Yeah. I do. What do I win?"

Sasuke blanked. That wasn't what was supposed to happen. He looked down to assess what he had and then offered his drink. Naruto laughed and took a sip.

And then Naruto spat it out. Sasuke was a little offended. That little sip was probably worth at least forty cents.

"What is that?" Naruto asked spitting some more and handing the cup back.

"Tomato juice," Sasuke said coolly as he took another sip of his drink.

"People actually drink that?"

"People actually eat fried butter on a stick?" Sasuke fired back.

"Hey! It was a once in a life time sort of thing! I don't understand why you don't get that!"

"Well I'm not going to be the one who dies of a premature heart attack." But by the way Sasuke's heart was in his throat, he wasn't totally sure. What was that term Sakura used? Indirect kiss?

"I'm healthy though. I workout! See I am on a run." Naruto gestured to his clothes.

"Doesn't look like it right now."

"Oh shut it," Naruto said and plopped on the bench next to Sasuke.

They stayed in a steady rhythm of quips and easy banter as Naruto changed the subject to university. Apparently their friend groups were almost the exact same. Sasuke was lab partners with Gaara in second year chemistry. Naruto and Neji shared an economics class. The only reason they never met was because of some weird fluke. Sasuke was on a business trip when the group went to the ski resort over winter break. Naruto had food poisoning when they went to the amusement park. Ino's birthday party happened to be the first time they were in the same place at the same time. They both agreed it was weird.

Everything settled as Sasuke relaxed into the chatter. Talking with Naruto was easy, though he did more listening than talking. Naruto was verbose in contrast to Sasuke's conciseness. A day at the beach to Sasuke was a bunch of sand and sunburns, but a day at the beach for Naruto was playing in the chilly waves with his roommate Kiba and chasing the seagull that stole his last mini pretzel until the bird flew away.

Sasuke didn't notice time passing.

"Hey, wanna grab something to eat?" Naruto asked checking his watch.

"I thought you were on a run?" Sasuke checked his watch too. His break ended over half an hour ago. He didn't receive any messages from Itachi so he was still in the clear.

"I'm basically done so it doesn't really matter. Besides, I'm starving." Naruto stood and stretched his back. He turned and offered a hand up.

Sasuke stared at the hand and he stared at its owner. Naruto's bangs were a spikey mess from the combination of dried sweat and wind. His eyes were earnest, his smile genuine. Sasuke was perfectly capable of getting up by himself. He grabbed the hand anyway.


	6. The Drapes Were Blue Just 'Cause

Naruto groaned as his phone went off for the third time. He didn't know why Sakura was calling him. It was the weekend. He didn't want to be up until it was at least 2 pm. It was, he lifted his head and squinted his eyes to focus through their heavy lids, 1:30. Too early. The ringing stopped and Naruto buried his head back into his pillow. Three should be the limit. He'd call her when he woke up in thirty minutes.

Naruto relaxed and let his bed and blankets engulf him. Sleep edged in around the sides of his consciousness, tipping him farther into unconsciousness by the second. The phone rang again.

"Sakuraaaaa," Naruto whined into the phone.

"Good afternoon Naruto! I didn't wake you did I?"

Naruto knew that Sakura knew that she did exactly that. Naruto whined again in response.

"Now that you've finally answered your phone, a group of us are going to Moon Fight 7. Wanna come?"

That immediately woke Naruto up. The movie had been out for a couple of weeks but he hasn't had the chance to go. It was the long awaited seventh installment. The original actors were going to come back and the reviews were great. Raved.

"I'll be there. What time?"

"I'll pick you up in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?!" Naruto squawked, he was already moving.

"Yeah. It would have been thirty if you picked up the first time. Oh and Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto hopped on one foot as he tried to pull up his pants, cellphone jammed to his ear with his shoulder.

"Sasuke's gonna be there. Will that be a problem?"

At the mention of Sasuke, something stirred in Naruto's chest. He even smiled a little. He and Sasuke have gone out for lunch or dinner a few of times since that day in the park. And it was… nice. Sasuke didn't look it but he was actually pretty funny in a stuck up jerkass way. In a tentative way, they were friends.

"We'll be fine. We're adults you know," Naruto replied.

"Mhm, you better."

* * *

By the time Naruto and Sakura get to the theater, everyone else was already milling about around the concessions. Sasuke stood by Ino with an oversized bucket of popcorn.

"Hey bastard," Naruto greeted. The corners of Sasuke's lips upturned slightly before he ducked his head to hide it behind the bucket of popcorn. Naruto grinned.

"What do you want, idiot?" Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto didn't realize it until right then, but he missed his little outings with Sasuke. It was a shame that they were both busy with finals to really do much with friends let alone each other.

Naruto lurched forward at the sudden slap to his head. "Hey what was that for Sakura?"

Sasuke had a hand to the back of his head as well and glared at Sakura.

"I specifically told you to two to make nice."

"What? We were being perfectly civil, right Sasuke?"

"Hn," he agreed.

"By insulting each other the moment you see each other? Seriously?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Boys…"

"Oh that's unfair. That's how you greet Ino ninety percent of the time."

"Whatever, just no fighting. I don't want to get kicked out of another movie theater."

Naruto exchanged a look with Sasuke. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "That won't be a problem," Naruto said while Sasuke echoed quietly, "No promises…"

* * *

"Hey how'd you like the movie?" Naruto asked as he caught up with Sasuke on their way out. After all the shuffling and rearranging they ended up sitting next to each other. The movie was everything he wanted and more. But the trailers, one of the best things about seeing a movie in theaters, well he didn't really remember any of them. Too often his eyes were drawn to the side where Sasuke sat. The light from the screen made his face shine a pale blue with dark stretching shadows. It took the movie's main theme and Sasuke looking over at him with a puzzled, mouthed 'what?' for him to look away.

"It was alright," Sasuke said, tossing his empty popcorn bucket into the garbage. "It took me a while to figure out all the family relations, but I think I got them all by the end."

"Wait." Naruto froze. Sasuke turned around, a few steps ahead. "Are you telling me that you haven't seen the first six?"

"Uh no. I have not," Sasuke stepped farther away like he was trying to escape or something. Ridiculous. "And I have no plans on watchin-"

"What are you doing later tonight?"

"Not watching Moo-"

"Okay good. Come by my place at 6."

"I'm not going to watch six three-hour movies. I don't care if it's a weekend."

"Oh yes you are! Even if I have to tape your eyes open. They're classics!"

* * *

Naruto didn't know how he got Sasuke to agree to a movie marathon. Especially since it was obvious he didn't particularly enjoy them. Sasuke at least put in the effort to humor Naruto, and that was all that really mattered. Every weekend they would meet up at Naruto's house and attempt to watch two of the movies. Every weekend about thirty minutes into the second movie, Sasuke would fall asleep and Naruto soon after. He'd offer Sasuke to stay the night but also without fail, he would leave when he woke up, even if it was the middle of the night.

Naruto settled back into the couch after switching the movie. Sasuke was already splayed out with his feet propped up on the footrest, basically lying flat with a pillow to prop his head up to see the screen. Naruto bit down a smile. He could already see the slow blinks as Sasuke tried to stay awake.

"I'm going to start the movie. Are you ready?"

"Hnnn." Sasuke was already asleep.

Naruto let his smile break free and turned down the volume before pressing play.

* * *

They were only on the fourth movie and Sasuke wanted to gorge his eyes out. The only reason he didn't was because Naruto seemed so damn happy to watch them…and because it would probably hurt but that was beside the point.

He always did his best to sit through the second movie of the night but he can only fake interest for so long before he falls asleep. Three hours was already pushing the limit. It didn't help that Naruto's couch was blessed by the Sandman to be comfortable and perfect for naps. Or that Naruto was a literal space heater sitting next to him.

Sasuke never knew how cool his body temperature was until he ended up lying next Naruto. And he also didn't know when the space on Naruto's large couch grew to be so small between them. Sasuke blamed the narrow footrest and the convenience of sharing snacks. Three in the morning the DVD player read. The title screen was looping for probably the hundredth time. Sasuke needed to be getting home, but really, it was so warm under the blanket he somehow ended up sharing with Naruto. He shifted to look at him. His eyes were closed, his breathing even. It was so different from when he was awake. Loud, bright, and always moving. Now his face was slack with sleep, relaxed. It was nice to see something different.

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke whispered. Naruto didn't react so he poked his cheek. From the disturbance Naruto twitched awake.

"Hhuh? Sasuke?" he gracefully mumbled.

"I should be heading home. I'll see you later?"

Naruto began to rub the sleep out of his eyes in an attempt to wake up more. He glanced at the clock. "It's already late man. Why don't you just sleep over? You can have my bed." Naruto's head drifted to the side as the last word came out in a slurred murmur. His blue eyes were slits, struggling to stay open.

Sasuke didn't know why he did it. Maybe he thought he was dreaming or maybe he had finally lost his mind. Those were lies.

The truth was what Sasuke really didn't know was when his simple crush changed. The butterflies were still there but instead of a raging boil that drowned all rational thought they stayed at a constant low simmer in the back of his mind. Peaceful wasn't how he would describe spending time with Naruto. Time seemed to move slowly and too fast all at once when they were together. It was unsettling. It was the opposite of how Sasuke lived his life. But with Naruto it was different. It was tolerable. It was nice.

Sasuke leaned forward. His face moved closer to Naruto's, his eyes locked with the tired, questioning squint of blue until his lips lightly brushed his. Naruto blinked his eyes completely open. Sasuke felt the smile creep up on Naruto's lips with his own and a pressure as Naruto leaned forward more. After a moment Naruto pulled away, still close enough that their lips brushed with every soft breath.

"Does that mean you're staying?" He whispered against his lips. His eyes were drooping again and Sasuke's followed closed too.

"I guess I am."


	7. I'd Go Indigo For You

Sasuke checked his watch again after he straightened the decorative vase on his coffee table for the fifteenth time in the last ten minutes. Naruto was due in half an hour and he had nothing better to do. He finished cleaning hours ago, he was too nervous to watch television or read, and he already forced himself to stop pacing. If he opened the oven one more time, the food wouldn't cook properly and that would be a disaster. That left him where he was now, sitting and staring at the slightly off… He straightened the vase again.

It wasn't a huge deal. Just Naruto's first time in his apartment. Naruto has picked Sasuke up and dropped him off before, but he has never been inside. Naruto was also going to be eating food Sasuke cooked himself. He wasn't bad at cooking but he wasn't really good at it either. His chicken had a fifty-fifty chance of being too dry, but some smart person invented gravy for that exact reason. He wasn't even cooking chicken. He hoped his lasagna didn't set off the fire alarm again. It's been years since it's happened but the incident has been firmly planted in his mind and haunts him every time he looks at lasagna noodles in the store. Maybe he should check the oven again to make sure it's not burning.

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin when a knock came at his door. He checked his watch again. Naruto was early. Too early. Sasuke did a quick check over his apartment in panic, but even if something was amiss, it was too late now. He took a deep breath to calm his stuttering heart and opened the door.

Sasuke frowned, "Itachi. What are you doing here?"

Itachi raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Just dropping by for a surprise visit to my little brother."

Sasuke had no idea how Itachi knew Naruto was going to be over, but he needed to go. Now. It wasn't like he didn't want Naruto and Itachi to meet. He'd introduce them eventually. Like when the world ended. "You can't be here." Sasuke tried to bodily turn Itachi around and out the door.

"Oh and why is that?"

"You just can't." Sasuke pushed harder.

"If you give me one good reason, I'll leave."

Sasuke thought of his pride. What would be worse, lie or let Naruto and Itachi meet? The answer was obvious.

"I'm pregnant and need time to myself to cope." As the words left his mouth Sasuke mentally kicked himself. He was definitely spending too much time with Naruto. His personality did not match up with the spontaneousness of Naruto's unpredictability.

Sasuke watched as Itachi's mouth opened slightly as if he were about to laugh and then closed into an amused line. "Well, I can't leave you now in this time of distress. Who's the mother or father might I ask?"

Sasuke's face heated more and he doubled his efforts to push Itachi out the door. That's when the second knock came and Sasuke paled. Naruto was early.

"Itachi hide!" came out of Sasuke's mouth the same time Itachi said "I'll get it" and opened the door.

"Hi Sasu–" Naruto aborted.

"Could this be the father?"

* * *

Naruto sat on the armchair across from the couch Itachi was on. Itachi was an intimidating man with deep, dark eyes and a neutral expression that hasn't changed the entire time since they've met. Not even during the thirty minutes it took to eat dinner. It was the longest, most awkward thirty minutes of his life beating out every single public confession of love Lee has made to Sakura. It was hard to strike up a conversation when one third of the party sat silently and observed and the other third switched between looking like he would either die or commit a murder every few minutes. Naruto didn't know if he should be scared or amused, but he sure was tired.

Dishes clinked together in the background. His palms sweated. Sasuke left him alone to clean up. He offered to help multiple times and was shoed away. Now sitting across from Sasuke's brother in the tense silence, he wished he pushed and helped out anyway.

"So…" Itachi began and Naruto startled at the man's soft voice. "You and my brother huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Naruto replied unconsciously scratching the back of his head. "I guess it's been official for about a month now, but we've been hanging out since September." Naruto had a feeling he knew where this was going. He wasn't sure if he would survive a 'You-break-his-heart-and-no-one-will-find-the-body' speech from a man like Itachi. He seemed like he would make good on the threat.

Itachi was quiet. Face impassive. Eyes calculating. Every second that passed made the room feel a degree warmer. Naruto was just about to get up to help Sasuke in the kitchen when Itachi spoke.

"Interesting." He said with a smile and Naruto could see the family resemblance in the way Itachi's eyes softened around the edges with the barest of smile lines. Naruto had no idea what Itachi saw in him, but he was glad he apparently got his approval.

"Let's set up a trade," Itachi continued, business like in the way he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "I have all the baby photos and growing up stories you can imagine. In exchange, keep me updated. You know how Sasuke is."

Naruto ruminated on Itachi's proposal and he knew where he was coming from. Sasuke was cagey on a good day. To get first-hand information on when Sasuke was younger without having to pry it out of Sasuke word by word?

"Starting right now?" Naruto asked as he pulled up his phone. Maybe Itachi wasn't as scary as he looked.

"Staring right now." Itachi agreed.

"Well, I have this picture of Sasuke with a chicken, but I also have this video..."

"God dammit Naruto! I told you to delete that." Sasuke was ignored.

"Oh, I have a good story for this one." Itachi pulled out his phone as well. "Middle school. Picture day. Sasuke just discovered hair gel."

"Itachi!"


	8. Shotgun Underneath The Purple Skies

It wasn't like he was proposing marriage, Naruto thought as he stirred the white sauce. The worst thing that could happen was Sasuke saying 'no'. Or breakup with him on the spot. He's not sure how this would lead to that but he wouldn't throw out the possibility. It was Sasuke after all.

"Spoon," Naruto said as he held out hand and stopped stirring. The rhythmic _thunks_ of a knife on wood echoing around his kitchen stopped, a drawer slid open, and the cool handle of a metal spoon was pressed into his hand. Naruto dipped the spoon into the sauce and examined the results on the back of the spoon. It wasn't thick enough. He resumed stirring with his whisk for a couple more minutes. He knew he should have bought whole milk like the recipe called for, but too late now.

The _thunks_ started up again.

"Pepper," Naruto said when the white sauce was finally ready. Again the _thunks_ stopped and his pepper shaker appeared. The pattern went on. "Garlic… Cheese..."

Naruto turned off the stove top. The only thing left to finish was the chicken and the salad. Sasuke stood across the kitchen. An orange apron contrasted with his navy shirt and a headband pushed his bangs out of his face. Naruto couldn't help but stare. He really hoped Sasuke didn't say 'no'.

Naruto wondered over and slid a hand around Sasuke's waist.

Sasuke turned around. "I have a knife."

"I know. And it looks like you've had half the tomatoes as well." He purposely bought extra and still the salad bowl was suspiciously low. Naruto didn't really like them anyway and a bribe couldn't hurt his chances.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose and Naruto leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

Sasuke's face relaxed for a moment before he rolled his eyes. A small smile tugged at his lips as he kicked Naruto away. "The timer is about to go off."

Naruto turned to check and jumped a little when soft lips caressed his cheek.

The timer dinged. Naruto stepped away to find the oven mitts and took out the food. "I've got the rest. Go sit."

* * *

"Hey Sasuke, I saw your tea at the store and bought some." Naruto carefully placed a steaming mug by Sasuke's plate.

"That mug…" Sasuke finally spoke after a lengthy pause.

Naruto looked at the bright yellow mug. It had a big smiley face on it. "Hm, this? It was a present from Sakura a couple years back."

"Hn," Sasuke responded, not elaborating further. Naruto wasn't one hundred percent sure what that meant. He was well versed in Sasuke-ese but the tone and context of the particular instance was new. Sasuke took the mug, took a sip, and only made a slight face of disgust but he kept drinking it so Naruto was going to call it a successful bribe.

They finally sat down to eat. Silverware clattered against their plates. Naruto forced his leg to stop bouncing under the table. He needed to act normal. Cooking was fine. He had something to focus on. Now he watched Sasuke delicately cut his chicken into small pieces with a steak knife and imagined him doing it every day at a table different from the one they were currently eating at because Naruto was pretty sure it was Kiba's.

"Did you poison this?" Sasuke suddenly spoke knocking Naruto from his thoughts.

"What? No! Why?"

Sasuke dropped his eyes to his plate and then to Naruto's in response.

Naruto followed his gaze. Sasuke's plate was almost gone while Naruto hadn't so much as taken a bite. Sasuke wasn't a slow eater by any means but typically, Naruto would at least be starting his second plate.

"It's not see?" Naruto stabbed a piece of chicken, shoved it in his mouth, and choked when he tried to swallow. Sasuke wasn't laughing out loud, but Naruto could see his amusement in the slight crinkle in his eyes and in the way he slid Naruto's cup closer to him. At this rate Naruto was going to die before he asked the damn question.

"So you know my roommate Kiba?" Naruto finally began after he fully recovered. Eating was going to have to wait at this point.

"Yeah, though I've never met him in person."

"He's never around since he basically lives with his fiancé now. Which, uh, brings me to, um… So Kiba is thinking of moving in with Hinata at the end of the school year and um…" Naruto fiddled with his napkin.

"Wait. Neji's cousin?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Yeah, Neji's cousin. You should have seen his reaction."

"I think I did. Did your roommate propose at the beginning of July?"

"Hmm… yeah, he did."

"Definitely saw the aftermath. Your roommate is a brave man. Or a stupid one."

Naruto snickered. "Both. Definitely both."

"Anyway," Naruto continued before he lost his nerve. "Uh, this place is not as nice as yours but it is closer to campus and to your job. Probably a little cheaper. Though I don't know when your lease is up and I know we haven't been dating for that long but I really do like you and um, I was wondering if you would wanttomoveintogether?" At some point Naruto lost eye contact and finished with his eyes screwed shut and away from Sasuke.

Sasuke was silent for a while. He was silent for so long that Naruto risked a look at him. Sasuke's face was impassive, blank, worlds different from the soft resting smile on his face at the beginning of the conversation. Naruto knew this was a bad idea. Soon a breakup lawyer was going to show up and they would have to figure out who got custody of their imaginary cat and if visiting was allowed. He almost opened his mouth to take back the proposal when he noticed something starting at the base of Sasuke's neck.

A blotch red blush peeked out of the edges of Sasuke's shirt collar and slowly trailed up his neck. Naruto's eyes traced up and Sasuke's cheeks were bright red. He's seen Sasuke blush, but never like this, like he was doing his absolute best to show no reaction.

Their eyes met. Naruto became conscious of his own heated cheeks. "Only if you want to. I won't be mad if you say no. You don't have to answer right now. It's still months away."

"June," Sasuke said.

"Hm?"

"My lease is up at the end of June."

* * *

 **A/N:** Unbeknownst to Naruto, Sasuke was plotting a way to steal his mug the entire time.

Double post today. To my first reviewer, this is for you.


	9. Behind These Two White Highway Lines

Naruto was in no way staring at the couple sitting across from him and Sasuke on the metro. He was most definitely not looking at the way their hands were clasped together. Nor was he taking in the soft smiles that they both had on their faces. No, he was not creepy. He tore his gaze that was definitely staring at the buildings that passed by behind the couple and looked down to the hand resting on the seat next to him. He moved his eyes up the attached arm to the shoulder and then to the face of Sasuke Uchiha.

If someone asked Naruto five months ago what he saw when he looked at Sasuke, he would have said he irrationally saw red. Now though, Naruto saw something different. When he thought about it his cheeks hurt from the face splitting grin, a warm fuzzy feeling appeared in his gut, the world around him seemed a little brighter, happier. All because of Sasuke.

"What are you staring at?"

Naruto jolted and smiled wider. He took in the light dusting of pink along Sasuke's cheeks and told himself it was because of him and most definitely not because it was below zero outside despite it almost being March. "Nothing."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in the 'yeah right idiot but I won't push you' way and went back to...was he staring at the couple across from them? Creepy.

Naruto dropped his hand from his lap to his side and tensed. Instead of the cold hard seat surface, his hand landed on something warm and soft. He was about to move it away when Sasuke's hand shifted and clasped his. Naruto looked over and Sasuke pointedly looked anywhere but at him. Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand and Sasuke squeezed back.

Their stop approached. Naruto tugged Sasuke up so they could wait by the doors. The crisp, cold air engulfed them immediately after stepping away from the train cart. Everyone was bundled up, covered from head to toe in winter clothes.

The café wasn't far from the station but it was busier than usual. The crowd flowed around each other with the grace of a river and Naruto and Sasuke moved with them.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Wait up!" Behind them Sakura and Ino walked towards them.

"Hey Sakura, Ino. Out shopping?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah Ino has a presentation coming up and wanted something new," Sakura replied.

"What are you two up to?" Ino asked.

"Lunch."

"Oh can we join?"

"Hn."

"Awesome!"

* * *

"So Naruto," Sakura began casually once they were all seated. Naruto was not fooled by her tone. Something terrible or possibly embarrassing was about to happen. "It's been rare for you to meet up to hang nowadays. Who's the lucky girl?"

Naruto very carefully did not react to Sasuke choking on his coffee. Luckily it drew the attention of Sakura. "Now that I think about it… you too Sasuke. You've been more hermit like than usual. Have you been seeing a special someone?"

Naruto shared a side glance with Sasuke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow to tell him it was up to him and continued to sip his, he wasn't drinking coffee – to sip his nasty tomato juice.

"Well," Naruto began and rubbed the back of his head. "First off it's not a girl. It's actually Sasuke."

"Aww, that's so- Wait, what?" Sakura straightened in her seat. Her eyes gleamed with the prospect of some juicy gossip. Ino was right beside her. "When did this happen? Tell us more."

Naruto looked desperately at Sasuke, expression yelling "Can we run?"

"No. They know where we live," answered Sasuke's stare.

"Itachi's?"

"Sakura and Itachi are friends. We wouldn't last five minutes."

"Attempt it anyway?"

At the minute nod of Sasuke's head, Naruto pointed behind Ino and Sakura. "Is that Shikamaru and Temari on a date?"

Neither Sakura nor Ino were fazed but Naruto and Sasuke stood and ran anyway.

* * *

 **A/N:** The End! Next chapter is a bonus one about Sasuke's 6th grade photo. Before the retakes.


	10. Bonus Chapter: Clearly Now

Itachi paced in the waiting room. He knew Sasuke would be fine. He was just getting teeth removed to make room for braces. Itachi had it done when he was younger and came out perfectly fine. He still worried. It was Sasuke's first time going under general anesthesia and there was no telling how he would react to it. Itachi suspected that reading articles on all the things that could go wrong in teeth removal may in fact have been a bad idea.

"Uchiha?"

Itachi looked up at the nurse.

"Your brother is in the recovery bay. Would you like to see him?"

Itachi gave a curt nod and followed the nurse into the backrooms.

"Sasuke did great! There were no complications with the procedure. He will be in and out for a little while so please take him straight home and let him rest," the nurse informed him.

Itachi listened with half an ear the rest of the care instructions as he took in his brother's state.

Sasuke lied propped up by pillows on a small bed. His eyes opened briefly when they entered before closing again. He looked pretty good if his swollen cheeks and slight pallor were ignored.

The nurse and Itachi helped Sasuke into the wheelchair by the bed and rolled him out to Itachi's car.

Sasuke was silent until about a block away from the oral surgeon's office. "E icure ay."

"What was that Sasuke?" Itachi asked. He couldn't understand him around the gauze and swelling.  
"It picure day," Sasuke tried again.

"Picture day?"

Sasuke nodded.

"And?"

"Goda go."

Itachi glanced over at Sasuke before returning his eyes to the road. "No."

"Ya."

"Do you really want to take photos in those clothes?"

Sasuke paused and looked at his sweatpants and faded t-shirt. "Home first."

It wasn't long before the lull of the drive pulled Sasuke into sleep like Itachi hoped it would. They made it home and Sasuke was still passed out. It took some maneuvering, but Itachi managed to get Sasuke out of the car, into the house, and tucked into bed without him waking.

A good ten minutes later, Itachi was sitting in the living room reading a book when a loud thud broke the silence. It came from Sasuke's room. Itachi was immediately down the hall and walking into Sasuke's room.

He scanned the room. The bed sheets were rumpled, messily made. A hanger lay on the floor by the closet. A few books lay spilled from a backpack, the source of the thuds Itachi concluded. Otherwise the room was as immaculate as ever. The phrase "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was perhaps taken a little too far in their household.

Itachi was avoiding the elephant in the room.

Sasuke was fine.

Sasuke was no longer asleep.

Sasuke was dressed for school. Kind of.

Sasuke stood in the middle of the room in a dark blue button down with a tie and a pair of dress slacks as per his school's uniform requirements. All acceptable, except the buttons were off by one, the tie was knotted like he was tying a double knot with shoelaces, and most importantly…

"Sasuke, _what_ is in your hair?"

"Gel. Obito left it." The gauze was no longer in Sasuke's mouth. The swelling has not gone down. Sasuke bent down to gather his books in his bag.

"What are you doing Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at him like he was asking something trivial. "Going to school. It's picture day." Blood dripped down Sasuke's chin. He promptly wiped it away with a handkerchief.

"There are retakes in a week. You've already decided to get them then."

"But what if the retakes are bad. There's no retakes of retakes."

"And how do you suppose you'll get there?"

"Bus."

"The bus doesn't run here."

"Walk."

"It's over 5 miles."

"Bike."

"You're not allowed to do strenuous activity."

"Drive."

"You're twelve."

"Chauffer."

As an older brother, Itachi needed to come to a decision. It was a matter of what was more important to his morals. Sasuke was clearly under the influence of pain medication and should be in bed not getting ready for school. Itachi also knew that Sasuke would be mad if Itachi let him go through with it. On the other side of the dilemma, it was prime blackmail material. Itachi, first and foremost, was an older brother.

"Alright, but you're not staying for classes. Doctor's orders."

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading.


End file.
